Milford administrator shares lessons from China trip

Wednesday

Apr 30, 2014 at 12:01 AM

By Lindsay CorcoranDaily News Staff

MILFORD – After spending two weeks in China, Superintendent Bob Tremblay came back with a greater understanding of the country’s educational culture and a new agreement for more exchanges with the Milford school system.Tremblay traveled to China as part of a project sponsored by The Cambridge Institute of International Education and financially supported by the government in the Hebei province that is funding international exchanges as part of its work on education reform."The Chinese government is really interested in learning about American education. They’ve realized that math and science isn’t going to be enough to be competitive," said Tremblay.He said the Chinese are increasing their focus on the American hands-on learning style, including vocational opportunities."I don’t think any one country is doing it right," Tremblay said. "It’s about how we can improve our practice and how we can help them improve theirs."Tremblay, who returned this weekend, called the trip "eye-opening" in more ways than one."The significant area where they’re different for me is the way in which students are engaged," Tremblay said. "American teachers engage, while the Chinese model is a lecture. You’re either taking it in or you’re not."Another big difference Tremblay noted is the respectfulness of Chinese students and how focused they are on tests."Our kids are thinking about their future career, while these kids thinking about passing the test so they can continue their education," Tremblay said.He said they have to pass two important tests – one in the American equivalent of ninth grade to see if they can continue on in high school, and another at the end of high school determining whether they can go on to college."If not, they get a government-issued job, so there’s a lot of motivation," Tremblay said.During the exchange, Tremblay spent the majority of his time shadowing an administrator at the Shijiazhuang School No. 42, one of the top-ranked schools in the province with more than 7,000 students in grades 7 through 12.Tremblay said the amount of time students spend in school is striking – with the learning day starting at 7:30 a.m. and lasting until 9:30 at night with a two-hour lunch break in the middle of the day."They study then they rest, they study then they rest. I asked one student, when do you have time for fun? They said they have no time for fun," Tremblay said.While in China, Tremblay stayed with a high school history teacher at the school and said seeing the home life was also a unique experience."I got to see a day in the life, not only in the classroom, but also by sharing meals with family and their friends," Tremblay said. "There was a lot of culture shock, but a great experience."He noted that he couldn't really communicate with the family and they had to rely heavily on Google Translate and hand gestures.Tremblay also did get a chance to see some sights while in China, including the Great Wall and several temples.Contact Lindsay Corcoran at 508-634-7582 or lcorcoran@wickedlocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @LacorcMDN.